Used surgical instruments and related medical devices are typically handled by a Central Clean Instrument Supply (hereafter “CCIS”)-department or facility (sometimes also referred to as a Central Sterile Services Department) within a hospital or other related medical service facility. The CCIS-department processes the used surgical instruments and other types of re-usable medical devices to bring them from a “dirty” or contaminated state to a washed/disinfected state. For this purpose the CCIS-department is divided into a dirty/unclean area separated physically from a clean area.
Elements of the CCIS-department processes may be summarized chronologically as follows:                i. in the dirty area, trays with dirty medical devices are received in containers or the like from the operating rooms;        ii. the trays are unloaded;        iii. the instruments are identified;        iv. the instruments are pre-cleaned or prepared by hand;        v. the instruments are arranged on washer trays,        vi. the washer trays are arranged on a washer rack or basket so the instruments can be properly cleaned in a washer sized to receive the basket;        vii. the washer basket with instruments is passed through a pass-through washer/disinfector to the clean area;        viii. the instruments are inspected for cleanliness in the clean area; and        ix. the washer baskets, and possibly also the washer trays, are returned to the dirty area.        
As will be understood, after a surgical procedure, dirty instruments are normally sent to the CCIS-department with the intention of washing/disinfecting and repackaging them for future use, possibly even with a sterilization step.
More specifically, the first step in the washing/disinfection process is decontamination where a CCIS-department worker opens a container and finds a tray with dirty, disorganized instruments/articles. Each instrument is then manually washed or scrubbed. The purpose of this manual process is to physically remove deposits and to break up biofilms such as dried blood that may be adherent to the instruments. The instruments/articles are then placed on trays which are put on cage-like baskets, and are then run through the pass-through washer/disinfector having an entry opening in the dirty area and an exit opening in the clean area, and which essentially operates as a dishwasher wherein the articles carried by the baskets are cleaned by water impingement and detergent. Typically, the baskets have a rotating spray bar connected to a water supply in the washer and which emits high pressure water and detergent spray to clean the instruments by impingement of the water jets on the instrument surfaces. In alternative operations the articles may be placed directly on grid-like shelfs integral with the baskets.
When the instruments leave the washer/disinfector, they are considered decontaminated. Further processing continues in the “clean” area of CCIS-department. Here the instruments are inspected, counted, sorted, and repacked; this may be carried out by a robot.
Components of a prior art CCIS-department or facility as described are outlined in the preamble of claim 1, whereby the facility has a dirty facility area and an adjacent clean facility area, baskets for receiving the dirty articles, and a wall separating the dirty area from the clean area, the dirty area including an entry door for receiving the dirty articles, pre-processing stations with tables, for pre-processing the dirty articles for the subsequent washing—such as through a pre-washing and/or sorting by a human operator, or even by a robotic operator—and for arranging the thus pre-treated articles in the baskets, pick-up points at the pre-processing stations for pick-up of the baskets with the pre-processed (eg. pre-washed and/or sorted articles), a washer, eg. machine operating in a manner similar to a dishwasher, positioned along the dividing wall, for washing the pre-processed (eg. pre-washed and/or sorted) articles arranged in the baskets, the washer having a chamber with an inlet opening in the dirty area and an outlet opening for washed articles in the clean area, the clean area including processing stations with tables for processing by a human operator, or even a robotic operator, of the washed articles. Washers as referred to are also sometimes known as “washer-disinfectors”. The pre-processing mentioned above may in some cases simply involve a manual preparing of the articles for the subsequent washing, including by way of example an opening of scissors to expose all surfaces thereof to the detergent used in the pashing in the washer.
EP 994 731 shows a CCIS-department or facility and method for the processing of used surgical instruments and other types of re-usable medical devices arriving from an operating room or other clinical facility. Trays with such instruments are delivered to the “dirty” side or area of CCIS-department, where the instruments are unloaded from the trays, hand washed and then placed on trays taken to a conveyor that runs in front of and alongside with a plurality of washers/cleaning units each having a chamber. Mechanisms are provided for loading the trays into the washers using a plurality of individual mechanical loaders; in the clean area a similar conveyor is provided alongside the washers, with individual mechanical unloaders or extractors for extracting the trays from the washer chambers onto the conveyor. When it is necessary to perform routine maintenance or repair on one of the washers it is necessary for a maintenance person to enter either the dirty area or the clean area in order to service the washer. In either case the presence of the maintenance person in either the dirty area or the clean area will interfere with the normal progress of activities in these areas since the conveyor placed alongside the washers must be removed for him to obtain access to the particular washer which is to be serviced. In the prior art there is no automated facility or method which avoids interruption of the normal operation of such automated washer facilities when maintenance is carried out.
EP 1 787 731 discloses a facility including a row of washers and a trolley moving back and forth along the washers, along a predetermined path defined by a track.